Kei Nishikori on Roger Federer: I miss seeing him play

Roger Federer is being missed by tennis fans all over the world, and his contemporaries are no exceptions.

Federer, who hasn’t played a match since the Wimbledon this year, ended his season prematurely owing to a knee injury. Consequently, the 35-year-old was also forced to miss the ongoing Swiss Indoors in his hometown Basel, a tournament where he has won seven times.

And, Nishikori admits that the Swiss maestro is being missed here, as well as in the rest of the tournaments.

“Roger Federer is very lacking, even in this tournament because he’s here [regularly],” the Japanese star said after his 7-5 6-1 first-round win over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic here.

“We all miss Roger. I miss seeing the circuit, to see him play well and hope he comes back strong next year,” he added of Federer, who is scheduled to make his return at the Hopman Cup in January.